Non-magnetic floating phases in frustrated Haldane chains with a single-ion anisotropy

TL;DR

This study explores how single-ion anisotropy influences phase transitions in a frustrated spin-1 chain, revealing new floating phases and complex critical behavior through advanced simulations.

Contribution

It uncovers a rich phase diagram with five gapped phases and two critical floating phases, highlighting the emergence of incommensurate Luttinger liquids from non-magnetic domains.

Findings

Identification of two critical floating phases with incommensurate Luttinger liquids.

Discovery of a composite critical line with central charge c=2.

Insight into the Haldane-trimerized transition in frustrated spin chains.

Abstract

We investigate the effect of a single-ion anisotropy on the bilinear-biquadratic spin-1 J1-J2 chain, focusing on the quantum phase transitions out of the trimerized phase. Using large-scale density matrix renormalization group simulations, we uncover a rich phase diagram comprising five gapped phases and, remarkably, two critical floating phases. These incommensurate Luttinger liquid phases emerge from the proliferation of non-magnetic domains - 0-states and dimers - within a trimerized background and are confined to the zero magnetization sector, while magnetic excitations remain gapped. We show that the transition between the topological Haldane phase and the floating phases are governed by a composite critical line with central charge c=2, consistent with a coexistence of magnetic and non-magnetic critical modes. Our results shed new light on the long-standing problem of the Haldane-trimerized transition.